Category: AWS for Startups

New research commissioned by AWS shows that workplace culture is vital to a startup’s success. Six out of seven startup leaders (86%) believe a company’s culture contributes to its growth, with 85% saying it can play a critical role in securing investment and the same number saying it is an important factor in attracting new talent.

The AWS Startups Blog is excited to introduce Sevetri Wilson. Sevetri is a serial entrepreneur whose most recent startup, Resilia, enables nonprofits to increase capacity and funders to go beyond the grant with technical assistance, coaching, and capacity-building support. In October of 2022, Resilia closed a Series B $35M funding round, the largest raise ever for a solo Black female founded tech company.

In October 2022, Amazon launched its Catalytic Capital initiative, investing $150 million in funds to underrepresented entrepreneurs. Now, AWS is further accelerating the conversation through strategic partnerships and data-driven reporting with the publication of the State of Black Venture Report, launched Tuesday at the 2023 State of Black Venture event hosted by BLCK VC at the AWS Startup Loft in San Francisco, California.

Today, we’re talking to three Black founders and leaders: Kwame Boler, CEO and co-founder of Spritz Natasha Greene, We Intervene; and Chandler Malone, CEO of Bootup. These Black leaders and innovators are making impacts in their communities, industries, and beyond. Read on to see how they’ve overcome obstacles and how they encourage and mentor young Black founders in tech and beyond.

Got a great idea? Build it with AWS Activate. AWS Activate is our free startup program that provides tools and resources including AWS credits, AWS Support credits, exclusive member-only offers, personalized guidance, expert advice and more.  It is designed to help startups build, launch, and grow.
To help you show your startup some love on Valentine’s Day, we’ve curated a list of exclusive offers from AWS Activate Providers.

Via her participation in the Black Founders cohort for the AWS Impact Accelerator Program, Dr. LaVonda Brown gained access to personalized coaching, capital funding, and technical solutions. Through this connection, she was able to deliver on a key requirement for their app to go to market.

For startups, coming full circle is a milestone defined by partnering with the programs used during early stage growth, or providing resources that help other startups succeed as well.

Ramp, a B2B fintech startup founded in 2019 by veteran founders Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh, does both. Ramp is a tech-first finance automation platform whose serverless modern application–in conjunction with its corporate card–allows businesses to more efficiently manage their finances.

Meet Alyse Dunn, the founder of CareCoPilot and our first featured founder for Black History Month. With her software engineering expertise and caregiver experience, she created the CareCopilot web and mobile app. With the help of the AWS Impact Accelerator program, Alyse and CareCopilot are on the fast track to providing relief to millions of caregivers.

Werner Vogels’ technology predictions highlight that we will continue to see broad advancements in AI, machine learning, virtual environments, and hardware that will enable exciting new business ideas. More than ever before, startups have access to the tools needed to build the next great thing. We look forward to seeing what you build in 2023!

AWS Startups launched the University Startup Competition to find and support student and faculty entrepreneurs as they build and launch their ventures. The competition is in partnership with Amazon Launchpad, a program that supports entrepreneurs by providing resources, expertise, and global support to help showcase and deliver unique products to Amazon customers.

Applicants to the University Startup Competition are associated with a US-based university as an undergraduate or graduate student, faculty member, or staff member.

Now in its third year, the 2022 AWS University Startup Competition received over 1,000 applications between September and November from startups across 300+ university campuses.